Great start to our series: “Love Handles: getting a GRIP on God’s design for marriage” yesterday! Attendance was good and we saw several new faces. Hoping and praying to see more in the coming weeks.

We talked about “Going for the Gusto?” as we began this series. Gusto is defined as personal taste or liking. That is the problem with most of us when it comes to missing God’s design for marriage. We enter into it “going for the gusto”, looking to fulfill our personal taste or liking. But God’s design for marriage is a Divine order that is to reflect the very image of God and as a human object lesson of the plan of salvation and our relationship with Jesus Christ.

Why do we think that Satan spends so much time on trying to destroy, pervert, and distort marriage, sexuality, fatherhood? Because he knows that if he can do that, he is distorting God’s image.

I opened up by painting a “modern abstract” masterpiece of a couple. It was beautiful! In an abstract dysfunctional kind of way. 🙂 Have you ever seen modern art? It doesn’t look anything like…well, anything…usually. I mean you can look at some paintings and you know exactly what it is. You look at it and you say, “A house” or “A tree.” ….I walk away thinking, “that was a really good picture of a tree” You look at most “modern” art and what do you see? “I’m not sure”…Picasso…supposedly a master…can’t even get his two eyes on the same side of the head! Most modern or abstract art has to be explained. It is open to interpretation. “Well what do you see?” I’m sorry, but I should be able to look at it and know what it is…unless you are my 2 year old…and even then, I can sometimes tell exactly what it is!

Here’s what we have done in our society: We have totally allowed a masterpiece, a clear image, to be distorted into a “modern, abstract” image that is not totally recognizable. It is open to interpretation. It doesn’t even look anything like what it was designed to be or reflect.

Genesis 1:26-27 says Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Marriage is a God-sized mission not merely an institution. It is to reflect the image and likeness of a holy God. Marriage is designed by Him to make His glory known! It isn’t about my personal taste. When we understand the fact that God’s signature is on this masterpiece of marriage, we would not enter into it lightly and we’d take more seriously what it means…especially those of us who claim the name of Christ.

The world looks at us and doesn’t see anything different. Therefore, they don’t see the image of God reflected.

When we don’t understand God’s design for marriage, we allow a modern abstract interpretation that is based on gusto…personal taste or liking…to rule. This has become such a problem in the church, that even among Christ followers, there is no recognizable design difference.

Paul gives the second thing we are to reflect in Ephesians 5:25-32. Marriage is to reflect God’s plan of salvation and our relationship with Jesus. We are His bride and He is our bridegroom. there’s a lot more to it, so you’ll have to check out the podcast this week.

Here’s the handle from yesterday:

Marriage wasn’t designed to fulfill my gusto, but to reflect His glory.

Our Quest Groups are sharing and discussing and studying God’s Word together on the same topic. We’d love to get you connected into one if you aren’t already. Its a good time to jump into a group. E-mail us for more info on a group.

Looking forward to a great series this month. Who are YOU inviting? Find someone who needs to hear this series and ask them to join you this week @ The Ridge. Click HERE to send an e-vite to someone.